Violin-sound-post setter



Nov. 3, 1925. 1,559,657

C. H. TODD VIOLIN SOUND POST SETTER Filed lay 22. 1923 l l/ llfll III/AJ u/WZ r. 6- b" 7200 Patented Nov. 3, 19135.

UNITED STATES CHARLES 11. mom), or new RICHMOND, WISCONSIN.

VIOLIN-SOUND-POST snrrnn.

Application filed May 22, 1923. Serial No. 640,674.

T 0 all whom-it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES H. Toni), a citizen of the United States,residing at New Richmond, in the county of Saint Croix and State ofisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Violin-Sound-Post Setters; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to a device adapted to perform the measuringoperations for and to place in position the sound posts used in violins.These sound posts comprise small cylindrical members which are placed inthe violin body and extend between the upper and lower walls thereof.The posts must be inserted into the body through the narrow slots whichare usually provided in the upper side thereof and the placing of theseposts has been a tedious and diiiicult operation.

It is an object of this invention to provide an extremely simple deviceby which the required length of the post may be determined and by meansof which the post may be held and quickly and easily placed in positionor removed.

It is a further object of the invention to provide such a devicecomprising a member against which the post is received, said memberhaving a handle extending upwardly therefrom and another member beingprovided extending longitudinally of the handle to engage the post andhold the same against the first mentioned member.

It is more specifically an object of the invention to provide a devicecomprising a semi-cylindrical sleeve having a handle sup port extendingupwardly therefrom at ,an angle to the longitudinal axis thereof, whichhandle carries a pointed pin adapted to be pressed against the post insaid sleeve to hold the same, which pointed pin is resilientlyretracted.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be fullyset forth in the following description made in connection with theaccompanying drawings, in which like reference characters refer to thesame parts throughout the di'ife'rent'vie'ws, and in i Fig. 1 is aperspective view of the device also showing a portion {of a violin andillustiati'ng the operation of the device;

Fig. 2 is a vertical central section through the device showing the sameholding the post in the violin which is also shown in vertical section;

3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing a portion of the device holding ameasuring device for the post; and

Fig. 4 is a plan view of one end of the device.

Referring to the drawings, a portion of a violin body is illustrated as1, through the upper wall of which is formed the usual slot 2 throughwhich slot the sound post illustrated as 3 must be inserted. The devicefor handling and placing the post comprises a member 4 against which theside of the post abuts and which is illustrated as a semi-cylindricalsleeve and thus has a longitudinal groove extending longitudinallythereof. Said sleeve is formed of a comparatively thin sheet metal andhas a laterally extending portion 5 to which is secured a sleeve ofcomparatively small diameter forming a hollow support 6. The support 6extends upwardly from the sleeve 4 at an angle to the longitudinal axisthereof and the open portion of the sleeve 4 is disposed toward saidsupport. A hollow handle 7 illustrated as of cylindrical form isattached to the upper end of the support 6 and a coiled spring 8 isdisposed in the handle 7 abutting at one end against the end of thesupport 6. A short hollow sleeve 9 is disposed in the upper end ofhandle 7 and abuts the upper end of the spring 8. A pin or rod 10 havingits lower end sharpened, extends longitudinally through the support 6,the spring 8 and the sleeve 9 and is provided with a handle in the formof a knob 11 at its outer end.

In operation, the handle 7 will be grasped in the hand with the knob 11seated in the palm of the hand. The sleeve 4 will be engaged about thepost and by relative movement of the handle 7 and the knob 11 thepointed end of the pin 10 will be pressed against the post firmlyclamping the "same in sleeve 4 and preventing any rotation thereof."This relative movement of the members 7 and 11 is readily obtained by aslight movement or bending of the fingers. The knob 11 presses againstthe upper end of the sleeve 9 and the spring 8 is compressed by thelongitudinal movement of pin 10 and sleeve 9 so that when the pressureis relieved from the parts 7 and 11, the spring 8 will retract knob 11and pin 10. With the post gripped in the tool the same can be easilyinserted through the slot 2 and moved about to various positions. Thepresent device is an improvement of that disclosed and claimed in myco-pending application, S. N. 492,876, filed August 17, 1921. The devicedisclosed in the application is very convenient and efiicient forplacing the sound post, but after the same is in position or if the samehas been knocked down in the violin body it was dilticult to againsecure a hold upon the same. With the present device the post can bereadily engaged and removed when in position in the violin or when loosetherein.

In order to determine the length of the post required the device shownin Fig. 3 is used consisting of ashort cylindrical member 12 having ascrew'13 projecting therefrom which is engaged by a threaded sleeve 14.The members 12 and 14 can be readily moved to extend the distancebetween the ends thereof and by inserting the device in the violin theexact length of post necessary may readily be gauged. The post is thencut to substantially the same length and placed in position.

From the above description it is seen that ap licant has provided anextremely simple anc efiicient tool for handling, placing and removingthe sound posts of violins. The device is exceedingly simple and can beeasily and inexpensively made. An ordinary hat pin which can be easilyand cheaply procured has been found to be very eflicient for use as thepin 10 and knob 11. The applicant is an experienced manufacturer andrepairer of violins and the success of the device has been amplydemonstrated in actual use.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made inthe form, details, arrangement and proportions of the parts withoutdeparting from the scope of applicants invention, which, generallystated, consists in a device capable of carrying out the objects aboveenumerated, such as shown, described and set forth in the ap pendedclaims.

What is claimed is:

1. A violin sound post setting device comprising, a semi-cylindricalsleeve for receiving the sound post, a support extending ataninclinatio-n to the axis of said sleeve, and substantially rigid meanscarried by and movable longitudinally of said support toward said sleeveand into contact with said post.

2. A violin sound post handling device comprising, means for receivingand partially embracing the sound post, a supporting means extending atan angle to the longitudinal axis of said means, and a substantiallyrigid member carried by and movable toward and from said first mentionedmeans for engaging the post to clamp the same against said firstmentioned means.

3. A violin sound post handling device having at one end a member havingan inwardly directed concave recess for receiving the post, a hollowsupport secured to said member extending from the concave side of saidrecess at an angle to the longitudinal axis thereof and a pointed rodslidable in said support mounted to move toward said end and recess andengage the post to clamp thesame against said member.

1-. A device of the class described having in combination, a memberhaving a longitudinal groove therein against which the side of a violinsound post abuts, a support secured to said member and extending at anangle therefrom, and means carried and guided by said support andmovable longitudinally thereof toward said member to clamp the postthere-against.

5. A device of the class described having at one end means for engagingand partially surrounding a violin sound post, a support extending fromthe inner side of said means at an angle to a longitudinal axis of saidmeans, a handle rigidly secured to said support, resilient means carriedby said handle, a member movable longitudinally of said handle tocontact with said resilient means, and a means movable longitudinally ofsaid handle and support for engaging the post and clamping the sameagainst the first mentioned means and engaging said mem ber whereby itmoves said member against said resilient means and is retracted thereby.

6. A device of the class described, comprising means adapted to engageand par tially embrace a sound post, a support extending at an angle tothe longitudinal axis of said means, a handle secured to said support,resilient means in said handle, a sleeve in said handle engaging saidresilient means, a pin slidable through said sleeve, said re silientmeans and said sleeve and pin being movable toward said first mentionedmeans and said pin having a pointed end for engaging said .post andpressing the same against said first mentioned means, and a knob securedto the outer end of said pin engaging said sleeve.

7. A violin sound post setting device having at one end asemi-cylindrical member provided with an open concave side facing theother end of said device, a support rigid with said member and alinedwith said open concave side of said member and with its axis making anacute angle to the axis of said member, a pin slidable in said supportand movable toward said first mentioned end of said device and said openconcave side of said member to engage a sound post therein and press thesame against said member.

8. The structure set forth in claim 7., said member, a cylindricalhandle secured to said support, resilient means in said handle act ingto move said pin away from said member, and a knob on the outer end ofsaid pin.

9. A violin sound post setting device having at one end asemi-cylindrical member provided with an open concave side facing theother end of said device, a support rigid with said member and alinedwith said open concave side of said member and with its axis making anacute angle with the axis of said member, a pin slidable in said supportand movable toward said first mentioned end of said device and said openconcave side of said member to engage a sound post therein and press thesame against said member, a handle secured to said support adjacent itsupper end, resilient means in said handle surrounding said pin andhaving one of its ends engaging said support, a sleeve surrounding saidpin slidable in said handle and engaging the other end of said resilientmeans, said pin having a knob at its outer end in engagement with saidsleeve whereby when said pin is moved to engage a sound post the samewill be retracted by said resilient means.

10. A violin sound post handling device having at one end asubstantially semicylindrical sleeve having its convex side disposedoutwardly, a support secured to said sleeve and extending from the openconcave side thereof and at an acute angle to the axis thereof, saidsleeve being much longer axially than the outer diameter of said support. a pin slidable in said support toward said open concave side ofsaid sleeve and adapted to engage a sound post disposed in said sleeveand press the same thereagainst.

11. The structure set forth in claim 10, a handle surrounding saidsupport, a knob on the end of said pin and rigid therewith and meanstending to move said pin away from said member.

12. A device of the class described, comprising a member having alongitudinal groove formed in one side thereof for receiving a violinsound post, a supporting member secured to said first mentioned membertransversely alined with said groove and extending away from the same,and a pointed member movable longitudinally of said second mentionedmember and alined transversely of said groove for engaging a violinsound post disposed therein to hold said post against said firstmentioned member.

13. A violin sound post setting device comprising, a semi-cylindricalsleeve for receiving the sound post, a support extending at aninclination to the axis of said sleeve, and means carried by and movablelongitudinally of said support toward said sleeve and into contact withsaid post.

1.4. A violin sound post handling device comprising, means for receivingand partially embracing the sound post, a supporting means extending atan angle to the longitudinal axis of said means, and a member carried byand movable toward and from said first mentioned means for engaging thepost to clamp the same against said first mentioned means.

In testimony whereof I atfix my signature.

CHARLES H. TODD.

